Research conducted by U.S. scientists is said to have lifted the lid on how molecular targets can influence skin health and treatment. The research findings were published today in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, in a paper entitled "SIRT1 Promotes Differentiation of Normal Human Kartinocytes."

According to the scientists, the preliminary results point to the fact that a better understanding of these mechanisms could lead them to better understand the mechanisms of hyperproliferation and underdifferentiation—characteristics associated with conditions such as psoriasis.

Identifying molecular mechanisms

The team behind the research consisted of specialists from the company Genstruct, which is focused on identifying molecular mechanisms for diagnostic purposes, and was supported by the Estee Lauder fellowship and scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "This project represents the full cycle of systems biology, from experiment design, execution, data collection hypothesis generation and model validation," said Dr. Joseph Loureiro, senior and co-corresponding author of the article and R&D project leader at Genstruct.

Loureiro’s team conducted its research around Estee Lauder’s ReNututriv Ultimate Youth Creme, which contains the company’s Reservaratrate formulation, which is said to be a time released version of Resveratrol, a substance that attacks pathogens and bacteria, "Using the Causal Network Modeling (CNM) Platform, we were able to identify the mechanisms controlled by SIRT1 in skin cells, and that can be regulated by Resveratrol. This is the biology that Estee Lauder was most interested in understanding more clearly," Loureiro said.

According to Louriero and his team, the CNM helped to identify the mechanisms for SIRT1—proteins that contribute to skin cell regulation—in keratyinocytes, and this was validated in the labs. This process helped identify the molecular networks regulated by SIRT1, which in turn helps extend the reach of sirtuins and how they can be incorporated into treatments to improve skin health, the scientists report.